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Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Top 15 Shortstop Rankings

Jan 19, 2011

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Here’s an early look at the 2011 Shortstop rankings. .
1. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies: After a .315-89-27-95-11 season Tulo has jumped up to the number one spot. He posted those monster numbers in just 122 games. .
2. Hanley Ramirez,Florida Marlins: Han-Ram is 1-A. He should post a higher SB total than Tulo, but fewer HRs and RBIs. You can’t go wrong either way. .
3. Jose Reyes,New York Mets: Reyes had a modest .282-83-11-54-30 season, but he stayed healthy. With his issues seemingly behind him, he should get back on track in the 110 run/50 stolen base zone. .
4. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers: Andrus really had it going on in the first three months hitting .296 with 54 runs, 24 RBIs, and 23 SBs. He finished with respectable numbers (.265-88-0-35-32), but was hampered down the stretch with a hamstring injury. If he can stay healthy, he could challenge Reyes for the lead among shortstops in both runs and stolen bases. .
5. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees: In a down year Jeter still posted a .270-111-10-67-18 line. He doesn’t even need to improve on those numbers to post another solid fantasy year. Of course, as a .314 career hitter, I’m almost certain he improves in that category. .
6. Jimmy Rollins,Philadelphia Phillies: J-Roll’s averaged plummeted for a second straight year to a career low .243. He played in just 88 games. There was some signs of hope though as he was 17 for 18 on stolen base attempts. .
7. Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox: Ramirez joined Tulo and Han-Ram as the only shortstops with at least 80 runs and 70 RBIs last year. His .282-83-18-70-13 line was rock solid. He’s been a model of consistency his first three years, and should post another strong line. .
8. Stephen Drew, Arizona Diamondbacks: Drew posted his fourth straight season with at least 60 RBIs. He also hit .278 with 83 runs, 15 HRs, and a career high ten SBs. He finished the year hitting .300 with 38 runs, 11 HRs, 30 RBIs, and 4 SBs in 217 at bats from August-October. .
9. Ian Desmond, Washington Nationals: Desmond’s first half and second half splits were nearly identical as he went .255-31-6-36-8 in his 271 first half ABs and .283-28-4-29-9 in his 254 second half ABs. With a season under his belt, Ian has the potential to develop into one of the games best shortstops. .
10. Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs: Castro is another youngster that posted a solid rookie season (.300-53-3-41-10 in 463 ABs). He proved to be a pretty streaky hitter, which isn’t uncommon for a player his age (21 in March). With more seasoning he could challenge for the batting average title among shortstops. .
11. Yunel Escobar,Toronto Blue Jays: After struggling with Atlanta (.238-28-0-19-5) in 75 games, Escobar came on for Toronto (.275-32-4-16-1) in 60 games. In a full season with the Jays look for Escobar to hit .280+ with 80+ runs, 10-15 HRs, and 70+ RBI. .
12. Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers: Furcal is like Summer in Minnesota. Perfect when it’s there, but frigid when it’s not. He’s missed 227 games the past four seasons. When he can stay healthy, he gives you plenty of runs, decent power, and a lot of stolen bases. When he’s on a roll, enjoy it as long as you can. Just know that it could come to a bitter end at any moment. .
13. Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers: Peralta forgot how to score runs (averaging 58.5 the past two season after averaging 89.3 the previous four), but he’s a pretty good bet for 80 RBIs. He has decent power and no speed. Not an ideal SS option, but he does offer positional flexibility with his 3B eligibility. .
14. Juan Uribe, Los Angeles Dodgers: Uribe has 2B/3B/SS eligibility, which makes him a valuable option. He doesn’t score many runs or steal many bases, but he has decent pop and is a solid RBI guy. .
15. Alex Gonzalez, Atlanta Braves: Gonzalez posted a solid .250-74-23-88-1 line, but struggled (.240-27-6-38-0) in 72 games with Atlanta. He has had a roller coaster career, but is capable of posting solid HR/RBI totals. .
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Hey, you rate these guys without taking into consideration their overall performance throughout the year. jeter is NOT number five on this list, he is more like a number or number two. Tulowitski is a clown that cannot hit steadily like he did in that ridiculous PED performance he had at the end of last year. Reyes is always injured…Andrus has not proven himself to be consistent. These are hype rankings..Jeter is always at the top one or two shortstops EVERYTIME at the end of the year. I think these need to be adjusted—this looks like brand name hype list.

Jeter’s batting average among shortstops was 8th last year. He is the tops in runs. He tied for 11th in HRs. He was 8th in RBI. He was 8th in SBs. Sounds like I’m being a little generous based on his overall performance throughout the year.

HAHAHA Tulo a clown!?!? He is amazing defensively and offensively. He actually considers Jeter his idol. But little does he now, he is better than Jeter as a player already. Now is he a better leader/Captian…No.

HAHAHA Tulo a clown!?!? He is amazing defensively and offensively. He actually considers Jeter his idol. But little does he know, he is better than Jeter as a player already. Now is he a better leader/Captian…No.

I love Jeter as a player. I had him as a top 3 SS last year. He slid a bit based on what we’ve come to expect from him. Given his age, I don’ think it would be a surprise if he didn’t improve on last year’s production.

I am a Yankee fan and a Jeter fan. He is a future Hall of Famer and is likely to bounce back from last season. That said, he is not one of the best any longer. Hanley has been the best SS for a few years now, and Tulo is clearly already better and on an upward trajectory. Most rankings are actually dropping Jeter futher down the list, but I think that is wrong. Tulo and Hanley are clearly 1 and 2 and 3-5 is petty close between Jeter, Reyes, and Andrus.

Jeter’s greatest “skill” at this point is that he will continue to score a ton of runs because of that lineup. His average is likely to rebound to around .300 and his HRs could jump to 15-18 without suprising us much (with a corresponding RBI jump).

I love Jeter, but idea that he is anywhere near Tulo and Hanley at this point is absurd.